Egypt
New Republic of Egypt: Digitally Transforming
By Mostafa Metwaly
Egypt is moving forward in its strategic direction towards building a digital country. The country has worked to strengthen and develop the information and communication technology infrastructure, set plans and strategies to achieve a coherent and digitally integrated government, and expand the provision of mechanized services to ensure the improvement of the work environment.
By providing multiple electronic services that save time and effort, and using technology to discover answers to the challenges facing society, there has been significant improvement in performance levels within various state institutions and contributions to enhancing citizens’ living standards.
Communication and information technology sector experts also agree that digital transformation is the basis on which the state relies on implementing the idea of the “new republic”, which has been the current cabinet’s vision in recent years.
The cabinet’s media center issued a report to shed light on the launch of the new republic towards a world of digital transformation in light of Egypt’s building of its digital capabilities, the development of the business environment, and laying the foundations of a knowledge society, believing that modern technologies are a gateway to economic prosperity.
Work has also been done on the automation of the real estate registration and documentation system. The automation of real estate documentation offices began in 2017 to eliminate the phenomenon of citizens overcrowding in front of them. 317 documentation branches were automated out of a total of 556 branches until October 2021, while transactions within 245 branches took place.
Additionally, 101 million government papers were digitized as part of the project to move to the new administrative capital, to become a participating smart, paperless government where correspondence and information exchange takes place through digital mechanisms.
Egypt also upgraded the e-government development index, which assesses national institutions’ readiness and ability to employ information and communication technology to perform public services, from 114 to 111, in 2020.
Likewise, Egypt improved its digital inclusion performance, moving up to the 50th place in 2020 from 52nd place in 2017, and the index confirmed that Egypt is among the top ten fastest growing countries in digital inclusion.
The new Administrative Capital includes Government Communication Buildings, which houses over 100 interconnected databases equipped with modern technology, and managed by a smart system for digital transformation. These contribute to the training of Administrative Capital employees to deal with technology.